The present invention relates to a word processor of the type wherein characters fed in by means of a keyboard, are displayed on a display, stored in a text memory, and printed out from the memory at a later time.
Word processors are often provided with a display on which the characters of at least a section of a line of text can be displayed, e.g., a 12-position line display. In such word processing machines, characters fed into the machine by means of a keyboard are stored in a text memory and are simultaneously displayed on the display device without actuating the printing mechanism and printing out the characters fed in. This provides a means for controlling the fed-in text and for making any required corrections by way of renewed character input. Upon the actuation of a special key, the characters are printed out automatically at the end of a line, or at the occurrence of other special criteria, e.g., actuation of a space key after a word has been fed in.
Such a delayed printout is acceptable for normal text input but poses considerable difficulties to the operator in the filling in of forms and similar preprinted material because the display does not afford him a control regarding the particular location on the record carrier at which the characters which have been fed into the memory are going to be printed.
The determination of whether and when the space available in a column of the form has been used up could possibly be made by counting the characters. The prior art has therefore provided a way to switch from the above-described delayed printout to direct printout so that the characters fed in are immediately printed out on the record carrier. Although this measure now makes it possible to fill in forms without difficulty, the ability to correct, which is inherent in a machine having a display and delayed printout, can then no longer be utilized.